1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to fiber-optics and more particularly to a fiber optic light guide apparatus that is useful in high-temperature hostile environments.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is often desirable to record illumination conditions and/or images within high-temperature, hostile environments. For example, it is often desirable to be able to view the internal operation of high temperature machinery such as a furnace, engine cylinder, etc. when evaluating the machinery performance. Similarly, as described in “Blast Instrumentation for Lethality Assessment (Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Volume 22, No. 3 (2001) page 355-366, incorporated herein by reference as background) it is desirable to observe the difference between the time of first light compared with the time of first fragment impact during testing of ballistic missiles. Similarly, it is often desirable to transmit information optically through a high-temperature interface.
However, conventional light guides are not suitable for such high-temperature and hostile environments. To the contrary, conventional light guides will become destroyed (e.g., melt, suffer fiber separation, etc.) when placed in high-temperature and/or hostile environments and are therefore incapable of withstanding such high-temperature hostile environments. The invention described below provides a light guide that is useful in such high-temperature and hostile environments.